dazzled by the sudden lights, pulled out the Walther, fired blindly in the general direction of the door, and ran for it, Holley s shot chasing him into the street, missing by inches and striking the gate post.
He got there in time to see Henri vanish round the corner, hesitated, then turned. Seeing no sign of Sara, he ran in panic up the steps and through the open door. He found her on one knee, pulling herself up with the aid of a large chair, the cheval mirror on the wall starred with a bullet hole.
I m all right, she said as he reached her. A dull thud was all I heard. I dropped down instinctively.
He was probably using a Carswell. He pulled her close, for a moment holding her tight, and she smiled. At least we now know for certain that we are being targeted.
What was he doing when you saw him?
He just rose up as if he d been crouching beside the car. Could he have been messing about with the brakes again?
I ll take a look. Do you have a light?
There s a spotlight in the cloakroom.
She gave it to him, and followed as he went down the steps to the Alfa, got on his knees, and found the cake tin.
Oh, dear, he said, and straightened. I ve got a strong feeling that if I ask you to go away, you ll refuse.
Yes, I damn well will, if it s what I think it is. What are you going to do?
Well, I m trying to be logical. If whatever is in the cake tin that s attached to this car was remote-controlled, we d have been blown to bits by now. He d have already activated it while he was running away.
She said calmly, Which would leave pencil timers. Fifteen-minute, thirty, one-hour?
I d say thirty to give him ample time to be elsewhere.
That would seem reasonable.
Let s hope so. I d just like to say I love you.
I know you do. She smiled gravely. You d better get on with it, then.
He handed her the spotlight, got on his back, reached up, gripped the box in both hands, and pulled so hard that it came away from the lid. He eased back, got up, staring down at the red-ringed pencil timers, pulled them out quickly, and tossed them into the birdbath beside the steps.
You must live right, Sara Gideon. They were fifteens fifteen bloody minutes. We should have been dead by now, and, somewhere, the bastard who concocted this very special cake is kicking himself because he s been waiting for the sound of an explosion that hasn t come.
I suppose you ll have to report in? Ferguson will go ballistic.
I ll call Roper now, he said as they went up the steps.
There was a meow, and Samson slipped out of the darkness, wound himself around her right ankle. She reached for him, and he faded into the night again.
He saved our lives, Sara said. It s as simple as that. She turned and smiled at him as they went into the hall. Thank you for your dying declaration. Naturally, I ll hold you to it.
Somehow I thought you would.
Henri had found Kelly in Grosvenor Square with no problem, then scrambled into the Citro n, breathless from his running.
Is it done? Kelly demanded as he switched on and drove round the square past the Eisenhower statue.
If you mean did I plant the bomb, yes. We should hear the explosion any moment, so pull over.
They sat waiting, Henri checking his watch until, with a certain despair in his voice, he said, I put in three pencils, the extras just to make sure in case of a malfunction. Fifteen minutes. They should have heard the explosion all over Mayfair by now. Let s get going I m beginning to feel cursed.
But what went wrong? Kelly asked as he drove away.
I d just placed the bomb under the Alfa when Holley appeared. There was an exchange of fire, silenced shots, I ran for it. I can only conclude he suspected a device and found it just in time to remove the pencils. He didn t mention the cat it would have been too embarrassing.
Well, Rashid won t be pleased.
We don t tell Rashid we tried again and failed. It s beginning to smack of burlesque.
If you think so, Kelly said. What do you want to do now?
Well, at this particular moment, getting drunk sounds like a very attractive idea.
Dillon happened to be at Holland Park when Roper received the news, so they all came together to Sara Gideon s house. Tony Doyle recovered the box s lid from the Alfa s chassis, and they were now sitting in the Victorian library by the fireplace while Roper examined the Semtex with a professional eye.
This has been around for years, he said. Highly volatile. It s absolutely incredible that you got away with handling it, Daniel. These pencil timers remind me of my Irish time as a bomb-disposal officer wouldn t you agree, Tony?
Doyle was checking one of them now, and he nodded. Takes me back to Ulster in the bad days, but on the other hand, I can remember stuff like this turning up years ago right here in London when IRA sympathizers were run to earth. Maybe it s just been sitting around in somebody s cellar.
I agree, Roper said. But it s dangerous stuff. It s a miracle you two are with us.
Which raises the obvious question, Dillon said.
What s going on? Who s behind this?
I haven t the slightest idea, Roper said.
All I would say is that it makes it highly unlikely that the attack on Sara last night was a mugging. There s a pattern to all this. If only we d caught them.
I admit I should have done better, Holley said.
But if I d given chase to tonight s villain, Sara would have come out of the front door in search of me and walked straight into the Alfa blowing up.
We can all see that, Roper said, and his Codex signaled. Yes, General? He made a gesture to them and went out into the hall, returning ten minutes later.
So tell us the worst, Dillon said.
Well, no surprises here. With the President s visit, talk of car bombs is the last thing the government wants. In other words, this little incident never happened. No police involvement. It is entirely our baby.
And we can do that? Sara asked.
Charles Ferguson can do anything, Sara, Dillon said. Get used to that now. What happens here, Giles?
Best not to stay in the house right now. I doubt they ll return here now that we re onto them, but it s safer if you stay somewhere else for the next few days.
She can stay with me, Holley said. What about Parliament tomorrow?
I ll join Roper at Holland Park, Dillon told him. We ll pick you up at ten-thirty tomorrow morning.
Excellent, Holley said. Let s all get some sleep. To put it mildly, it s been a memorable evening.
To Owen Rashid, who was dressing the following morning before picking up Jean Talbot for the reception, Abu s phone call came as no surprise.
I ve been waiting to hear from you about the Saudi delegation that was due to arrive yesterday. You said you would introduce them to Talbot s nephew.
Which I did. They arrived yesterday, two sheikhs and a couple of generals. I took them to the Le Caprice for lunch and persuaded Jean to join the party. They were impressed with her, and the fact that she owns most of the stock in Talbot International impressed them even more.
Hmm. You know, it occurs to me that it might suit our plans if you could persuade her to make a trip to Rubat with you. She could see the Bacu Railway for herself, meet Sultan Ibrahim Rashid, your uncle.
The prospect did not particularly appeal to Owen, but, as usual, it was diplomatic to agree. It s certainly an idea worth pursuing.
See what she thinks about it. I ll let you go now. I look forward to a full report on the reception. It should be mem-orable.
A slight chuckle, and he was gone. Owen puzzled over it for a moment, then reached for his blazer, pulled it on, walked out into the sitting room, and as he approached the balcony window, a flurry of rain tapped against it. Good old British weather. You could always rely on it to be bad when it was particularly essential that it should be good. There were awnings there, however, so the show could go on. He found himself a light raincoat in the
